Follow up to my previous posting on April 6, 2019 – Report – Nature’s Dangerous Decline ‘Unprecedented’ – Species Extinction Rates ‘Accelerating’ – via The Atlantic – “Entrants in this year’s contest were invited to submit images that showcase Earth’s biodiversity and show some of the mounting threats to the natural world. These images originally appeared… Continue Reading
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Monthly Archives: May 2019
Consider this – Alexa is always listening and collecting data about you
The Daily Dot – Here’s what you need to know about the security and privacy implications of smart speakers, both the myths and the realities – 1) Smart speakers are always listening – One of the first things you’ll hear about smart speakers like echo is that they’re “always listening” to your conversations—which is technically… Continue Reading
Bike lanes need physical protection from car traffic, study shows
Really! – that took how long to determine?….ars technica – Drivers left bikes less room in the presence of parked cars and painted bike lanes. ” There are plenty of good reasons that people should cycle more. People who exercise more are healthier and can score higher on cognitive tests, for one thing. And replacing… Continue Reading
Microsoft offers software tools to secure elections
AP – “Microsoft has announced an ambitious effort to make voting secure, verifiable and subject to reliable audits by registering ballots in encrypted form so they can be accurately and independently tracked long after they are cast. Two of the three top U.S elections vendors have expressed interest in potentially incorporating the open-source software into… Continue Reading
Why You Should Start Binge-Reading Right Now
The New York Times – Ditch Netflix for a novel. And not just because a novelist is telling you to. By Ben Dolnick. Mr. Dolnick is a novelist. “…But in book after book, if you do push on through one chapter break, and then on through the chapter break after that, something amazing happens. Subplots… Continue Reading
Human Rights Watch World Report 2019
“World Report 2019 is Human Rights Watch’s 29th annual review of human rights practices around the globe. It summarizes key human rights issues in more than 90 countries and territories worldwide, drawing on events from late 2017 through November 2018. In his keynote essay, “World’s Autocrats Face Rising Resistance,” Human Rights Watch Executive Director Kenneth… Continue Reading
New Rules On E-Evidence Could Streamline Criminal Investigations in the EU
Center for Data Innovation – “Law enforcement authorities have a problem: Evidence from crimes is often digital, such as emails or documents in the cloud, but investigators cannot easily access data stored in another country. While this issue is global, it is particularly acute within the EU. According to the European Commission, nearly two-thirds of… Continue Reading
450+ former federal prosecutors statement – Trump would have been charged with obstruction were he not president
Update – Washington Post – By early morning April 7, 2019, ” more than 720 former federal prosecutors who worked in Democratic and Republican administrations had signed a letter asserting that President Trump would have been charged with obstructing justice based on special counsel Robert S. Mueller III’s findings — if Trump were not the… Continue Reading
Report – Nature’s Dangerous Decline ‘Unprecedented’ – Species Extinction Rates ‘Accelerating’
Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) – Current global response insufficient; – ‘Transformative changes’ needed to restore and protect nature; Opposition from vested interests can be overcome for public good – Most comprehensive assessment of its kind; 1,000,000 species threatened with extinction: “Nature is declining globally at rates unprecedented in human history… Continue Reading
Study: Major media outlets’ Twitter accounts amplify false Trump claims on average 19 times a day
Media Matters: “Major media outlets failed to rebut President Donald Trump’s misinformation 65% of the time in their tweets about his false or misleading comments, according to a Media Matters review. That means the outlets amplified Trump’s misinformation more than 400 times over the three-week period of the study — a rate of 19 per… Continue Reading
Deloitte, MIT, and Datawheel Launch New ‘Viz Builder’ in Data USA 3.0
Deloitte – Data USA’s 3.0 includes additional data sets, now capable of generating more than 2.5 million data visualizations. ” Today Deloitte, MIT, and Datawheel released the third major update to Data USA, a data visualization platform with more than 400,000 monthly visits. This third update includes a “Viz Builder” tool, which allows users to… Continue Reading
Map identifies companies around the world most responsible for greenhouse gas emissions
The Decolonial Atlas – Names and Locations of the Top 100 People Killing the Planet – “Just 100 companies are responsible for more than 70% of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions since 1988. The guys who run those companies – and they are mostly guys – have gotten rich on the backs of literally all life… Continue Reading
